1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed to antibodies specific to carbamazepine, immunogens used to produce the antibodies, and immunoassay kits and methods for using the antibodies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Carbamazepine (5H-dibenzo[b,f]azepine-5-carboxamide) is an anticonvulsant and mood stabilizing drug used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and trigeminal neuralgia. Because of side effects of this drug, including life-threatening allergic reactions and toxic epidermal necrolysis that may cause severe damage to the skin and internal organs, it is important to monitor the levels of the drug in the patient's serum during treatment.
Immunoassays using antibodies specific to carbamazepine have been used in detecting and monitoring the levels of carbamazepine in patients' serum. Known antibodies are typically produced using immunogens in which immunogenic carriers are linked to the amido group of carbamazepine due to the relative easiness in derivatizing at this position. However, antibodies produced with this derivatization are generally not very sensitive.